Bio Bootcamp: Rewrite Your Online Profiles to Get the Work You Want — Online Zoom Seminar with Fran Ayala Starts Sunday, February 28th, 2027

Bio Bootcamp: Rewrite Your Writer Bio | Feb 2027 Online

Bio Bootcamp Writing Workshop: Rewrite Your Online Profiles to Get the Work You Want with Fran Ayala

Begins Sunday, February 28, 2027
Class will meet once via Zoom on Sunday, 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM ET

🌍 Class Times by Time Zone:

• Los Angeles (PST): 10:00 AM – 12:00 PM
• Chicago (CST): 12:00 PM – 2:00 PM
• New York (EST): 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
• London (GMT): 6:00 PM – 8:00 PM
• Berlin (CET): 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM

Now Enrolling!

Any questions about this class? Use the Chat Button to talk with us.

Instructor Fran Ayala is a brand strategist, storyteller and stand-up comedian who helps brilliant but overlooked creatives, founders and solopreneurs explain what they do and give the right people a reason to choose them.

A former journalist, Fran's work has appeared in Agence France-Presse and CNN, with opinion pieces published in Vogue and Londonist. Her personal essays feature in the Spill Stories anthologies Leaving & Healing and Powerful Asian Moms.

She founded Bitches in Stitches, growing a one-off Hong Kong show into an international femme/them comedy community with more than 90 performers. The collective sold out 30 consecutive Hong Kong shows in its first two years and has been featured in publications including Vogue and Rolling Stone.

Through her consultancy, FranBrands, she teaches practical workshops on brand positioning, messaging and PR. Her teaching includes Pitch Perfect: PR Fundamentals to Promote Your Work for Writing Workshops and personal branding sessions for Female Founders Rise. She also created Personal Brand Lab, a six-session programme helping participants develop their message and communications plan.

Fran combines a journalist's instinct for evidence with a comedian's ear for what actually lands. Expect hands-on exercises, specific feedback and the occasional aggressively formatted PowerPoint.

Who is this class for?

This online writing class is for writers across genres whose bios and online profiles aren't communicating the work they do or the opportunities they want, especially those juggling several skills, services, or careers. All levels are welcome.

What to expect:

You can write an entire fictional world into existence, then lose the plot when someone asks for 100 words about yourself. It hits hardest when your career has taken a few turns. You know how your experience connects, but an editor, prospective client, or collaborator has only just met you.

In this practical, two-hour online writing workshop, you'll look at your online presence through the eyes of someone considering your work. Instructor Fran Ayala covers choosing a clear focus, organizing information, replacing vague claims with specific evidence, and deciding which credits deserve space. You'll explore how to adapt your introduction for different contexts without losing your voice, and you'll address practical discoverability: descriptive headlines, consistent information, clearly labeled portfolio links, and routes to contact.

Fran will audit two volunteers' profiles live, tracing the route from the subject line of a pitch email to the work samples and contact details a reader finds next. Volunteers are chosen before the session and consent to having their materials discussed with the group. You'll apply the same checklist to your own materials, then draft a revised bio and test it with another reader, because knowing what you meant isn't the same as getting it across. Individual instructor audits are limited to the two volunteers, and written feedback after the seminar is not included. Bring an existing bio or About section and a link to your main online profile. No advance reading is required.

What are the writing goals?

In this course, students will revise a main bio or About section (approximately 100 to 150 words) written for a specific audience and professional goal, and draft a shorter introduction (approximately 30 to 50 words) for a second context such as a contributor bio or online profile. Students will also complete a self-audit covering clarity, relevant evidence, consistency, portfolio links, and contact information, and build a three-action profile improvement plan with one or two metrics to monitor. Feedback is verbal: two live instructor audits of volunteer profiles, plus a structured peer-feedback exercise on every participant's revised bio.

Readings

Readings may include excerpts from:

• "Yes, You CAN Build a Personal Brand without Looking Like a Wanker" by Fran Ayala
• "Your Substack Bio is Lame and Fake. Let's Make it Real" by Mack Collier
• "Your guide to a perfect author bio" by Alyssa Matesic
• "The Personal Branding Exercise I've Used Every Time I Need to Revisit Who I Am" by Maria Colalancia
• "What Your Bio Says vs. What You Think It Says" by Rob Riker

Teaching texts also include instructor-created annotated bio examples, an online-profile audit checklist, and a reader-feedback worksheet.

COURSE OUTLINE

Segment 1: What work should your bio help you get? Identify one professional goal and the reader who could help make it happen. Write a short brief defining what that reader needs to understand about your work.

Segment 2: Give the reader something specific. Examine before-and-after bio examples and discuss focus, information hierarchy, voice, and selecting evidence. Identify vague wording in your existing bio and choose relevant experience or work samples to support it.

Segment 3: Follow the clues: two live profile audits. Review two consenting volunteers' online profiles, tracing the route from introduction to supporting work and contact information. Assess what is immediately clear, what is buried, and where links or inconsistent information interrupt the journey. Apply the same checklist to your own profiles.

Short break.

Segment 4: Rewrite your introduction. Guided writing time to develop a 100 to 150 word bio or About section. Lead with the work most relevant to your chosen audience, select supporting details, and keep language that sounds like you.

Segment 5: Does the reader get it? Structured peer feedback using the prompt: "I'd recommend you to _____ when they need _____." Record what your reader understood before explaining your intentions, then identify revisions.

Segment 6: Adapt it and make the next step easy. Draft a 30 to 50 word version for a second context. Review headlines, portfolio links, consistency, and contact routes. Choose three priority updates and simple ways to assess their effect, including relevant inquiries and available profile or link analytics.

Segment 7: Q&A and implementation. Address remaining questions and confirm your first action.

COURSE TAKEAWAYS:

• One revised main bio or About section draft, approximately 100 to 150 words, written for a specific audience and professional goal
• One shorter introduction, approximately 30 to 50 words, adapted for a second context such as a contributor bio or online profile
• A completed self-audit covering clarity, relevant evidence, consistency, portfolio links, and contact information
• Peer feedback recording what another reader understood about your work and whom they would recommend it to
• A three-action profile improvement plan, with one or two relevant metrics to monitor after making changes

TESTIMONIALS:

"This was such a well structured course packed with useful information that got us working on our press strategy right away! Fran knows exactly how to present information so it's quick and digestible and empowers workshop attendees to feel confident tackling some of the most opaque aspects of marketing and PR for an indie show. I left with a rough draft of my press release and plenty of ideas about how to reach out to journalists. Pretty amazing in 2.5 hours! This course is such a value not just for Fringe performers but for any independent performer!

I'm an educator and I go to lots of courses so I am very picky about how content is delivered. Fran's course was outstanding and well worth the money I paid for it."

— Alyssa, PR workshop participant + writer, educator & performer

PAYMENT OPTIONS:

Tuition is $99 USD. You can pay for the course in full or use Shop Pay or Affirm to pay over time with equal Monthly Payments. Both options are available at checkout.

ONLINE COURSE STRUCTURE:

• Instructor: Fran Ayala
• Begins Sunday, February 28, 2027
• Class will meet once via Zoom on Sunday, 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM ET
• Tuition is $99 USD.